Hello, blossoms

Flower power bridges the gap between Eastern and Western art in two contrasting exhibitions, reports Dominique Angeloro.

SEASONS: THE BEAUTY OF TRANSIENCE IN JAPANESE ARTWhere: Art Gallery of NSW, Art Gallery Road, The DomainWhen: Daily, 10am-5pm. From Spring to Summer runs until September 21: From Autumn to Winter from September 26 to October 26More information: 9225 1700; Undertow runs daily, 10am-5pm, until October 12

Step into the Art Gallery of NSW for a slice of spring, Tokyo-style. Thanks to two exhibitions, the gallery is blushing with cherry blossom fever.

Susan Norrie's dark video installation, Undertow, resonates with uncertainty. The large darkened room flickers only with the glow of screens. In it, one can see images of environmental degradation, bubbling mud pools, birds stuck in a slick of oil and struggling figures. Norrie offers these images in a palette of greys, blues and blacks.

There is an exception. One screen's image is tinted with a sepia tone, showing a young girl being carried through a cherry blossom festival in Tokyo.

Norrie's hand-held camera bobs along after the girl and her father as they move through a streetscape bursting with blossoms.

This image adds a surprising lightness and relief to what may otherwise be a claustrophobic environment. The cherry blossoms seem to stand triumphant as a natural wonder amid a world otherwise derailed. Yet these branches carry an implicit warning, having prematurely bloomed 21/2 weeks prematurely, due, Norrie claims, to global warming.

Seasons: The Beauty of Transience in Japanese Art offers a more celebratory engagement. This seductive exhibition explores the Japanese fascination with subtle indicators of the changing seasons.

The works span more than 400 years and offer the audience the chance to experience these cultural artefacts as precious pieces of art. The range of mediums include ceramics, paintings, textiles, and lacquer ware.

Hanging scrolls, kimonos and screens are among the items on display. The exhibition is being held in two stages: the current stage, From Spring to Summer, followed by From Autumn to Winter. The first primarily pays homage to the cherry blossom as the iconic symbol of springtime.

Like the seasons, the blossom visually charts a constant state of transition: no sooner does it flower than it falls. The impermanence of natural forms has placed them at the core of Japanese writing and aesthetics.

The gallery is running a series of lectures on Tuesdays from 1 to 2pm exploring Japanese imagery in art, literature, gardens and film.